The UK government has become the latest signatory of the Tech Talent Charter, a voluntary vow to boost gender diversity in information technology positions.

As part of its commitment to promoting equal opportunities the government is also writing to global technology giants asking them to sign up as well in an effort to put the country at the forefront of efforts to redress an imbalance between men and women.

Encompassing all organisations employing people in technology roles the charter obliges participants to include women on interview shortlists when possible in addition to collecting and submitting anonymized data for a diversity report each year.

Digital and culture secretary Matt Hancock commented: “We recently launched the Tech Talent Charter and more than 125 companies have signed a pledge to take concrete measures to improve the gender diversity of their tech workforce.

“It is essential the public sector leads the way in driving this change and today I can announce every government department will be signing the charter.”

Charter signatories currently include the likes of Dell, Sage and Cisco.